public:cb_mirror:convention_of_states_the_right_way_to_riot_txt_blogposts_10804
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Convention of States: The Right Way to Riot
| Each day, the headlines display more news about protests. There are new riots each week from Portland to Kenosha. On social media, fierce battles are waged by keyboard warriors. Meanwhile, the Convention of States movement steadily plods ahead, seemingly unnoticed by the mainstream news.  This time of unrest is a perfect opportunity to educate people on why we have the Article V Convention of States process in the first place. Our Founding Fathers were intimately familiar with uprisings and rebellions. In fact, if it weren't for uprisings and rebellions, we wouldn't have the constitution we have. I'm not talking about the Revolutionary War. I'm talking about what happened in 1786, three years after the Revolutionary War ended. A very young United States was being governed by The Articles Of Confederation. But a funny thing happened in 1786: riots, protests, and rebellion! Over 4,000 people organized, armed themselves, and marched on the Massachusetts capitol in an event called Shay's Rebellion.  The cause of Shay's Rebellion was rising taxes and debt within the state. The state also owed money to many farmers for their participation in the Revolutionary War. Having just fought off one tyrannical government over taxation, they were not going to have it happen again. Shay's Rebellion would last for many months, bringing to light flaws in some state constitutions and revealing significant flaws in the Articles of Confederation which governed the young United States. The most glaring weakness was that the American government didn't have funds to raise an army from the state militias to help put down the uprising. Ultimately, this led to the Annapolis Convention. At this time in history, a convention of states was the normal way of doing business between the states. There was very limited federal government, no formal congress, and no way for states to work together other than to have an interstate convention or “convention of the states.” At the Annapolis Convention the young country experienced even more growing pains. Twelve attendees from five states gathered to work out the problems with the army and navy, which led to issues of navigation law, monetary systems, and taxation. They quickly discovered that they did not have the proper authority to resolve these issues. A broader convention was needed. The most important thing we can learn from the Annapolis Convention is the importance of “proper authority.” The Annapolis Convention was legally bound by the Articles of Confederation. The purpose of the Annapolis Convention was to address specific issues around the inability to raise an army. As it became clear a broader convention was needed to address the larger issues, the Philadelphia Convention was born. The most important distinction between the Philadelphia convention of states and the Annapolis Convention is that the Philadelphia Convention consisted of the states “in congress and assembled,” as opposed to only a few states. The Philadelphia Convention was governed by the authority of the Articles of Confederation. This one important point allowed the states to enter into a new “confederation or alliance” which would ultimately be an entirely new constitution. Specifically, Article VI of the Articles of Confederation says, “No two or more states shall enter into any treaty, confederation or alliance between them without the consent of the United States in Congress Assembled specifying accurately the purposes for which the same is to be entered into and how long it shall continue” It's an oddly worded negative sentence which means “two or more states can enter into a confederation or alliance when congress is assembled provided they state the reason for the confederation.” At this point it is good to remember the preamble to the Constitution. Why did the Founding Fathers write the preamble? Were they bored? Were they looking to fill up some space on paper? Did they get paid by word? No, they were providing the reason for the new confederation of states, per Article VI of the Articles of Confederation. > “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Now, with the preamble in its proper context, we should also put the Article V Convention of States in its proper context. Each Convention of States is authorized by something to do something. The Philadelphia Convention was authorized by the Articles Of Confederation to solve some problems. The attendees decided that the best way to solve those problems with the authority granted to them by the Articles of Confederation was to create an entirely new confederation of states. Yes, the Articles of Confederation specifically authorized the creation of such a confederation of states either intentionally or unintentionally. By contrast, an Article V Convention of States is authorized by our current U.S. Constitution to do only what is outlined through the state application process. While the process is similar to previous conventions of states, the authority lies in the U.S. Constitution and state legislatures. Any Article V Convention Of States could not “run away,” because it simply doesn't have the authority and would have to pass 88 separate state chambers. The notion of a runaway convention is often brought up by detractors of Convention of States Action. The correct response to this point is to ask the question “by what authority?” By what authority will the Convention of States go rogue? No convention of states has gone outside its authority ever, including those that operated under the Articles of Confederation. This brings us back to riots. Our country is founded on rebellion, not riots. We go through the time-consuming, often ugly process of self governing. We elect representatives to champion our causes. We expect representation and accountability. When we don't get it we “vote the bums out.” When the bums corrupt the voting system, we turn to our local representatives. We work locally to bring change nationally. There's an order to these things–a quiet, orderly progression that is meant to avoid violence. Our Founding Fathers knew that lifestyle all too well and wanted to avoid it at all costs for future generations. Our Founding Fathers built in many checks to keep the evil pull of power and corruption from destroying the country without the need for rebellion or riot. The Article V Convention of States is one of the tools. It's one of the “big guns” they put in the Constitution to deal with the corruption they were certain would come. It's our responsibility to use it. The Article V Convention of States process was perhaps the greatest gift the Founding Fathers gave us. It is a gift that allows us to continue the grand experiment of self government, even when the politicians get out of control. It allows us to “riot” and have a “rebellion” in a quiet, orderly fashion without the need to take up arms. The next time someone is talking about riots or peaceful protests or injustice, that is the perfect time to tell people about the Convention of States movement, why we have the process, and how a band of modern day rebels are well on their way to saving this great nation. # | PETITION_WIDGET{petition_tag:;coalition_id:;anedot_url:} | # |
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| Created: | 2020-10-09 20:41 GMT |
| Updated: | 2020-10-19 07:00 GMT |
| Published: | 2020-10-12 04:00 GMT |
| Converted: | 2025-11-11 11:57 GMT |
| Change Author: | Dwayne Parkinson |
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